Apr '14 - Nov '14
Preparing the foundations for concrete pouring, the gravel needed to be poured on in layers and then compacted. This continued until the gravel was compacted and leveled to about 75mm from the top of the concrete block footings. View full entry
Today we made a special visit to Blum who kindly sponsored us their kitchen fittings such as our cabinetry hinges, to drill the holes for the hinges to be attached to. Luckily despite the bad weather none of the gaboon for the kitchen cabinets got wet nor weather-damaged. View full entry
Today we picked up the kitchen cabinetry we had CNC routed by rainbow furniture. After arriving we realised that the cabinets would be a giant jigsaw puzzle to put together as there were many pieces. Transporting them back to the workshop at UNITEC so that we could assemble them off site. View full entry
In order to continue with the internal work on the bathroom pod we need to create a weather tight environment so we could ensure that the moisture levels inside the bathroom were kept at an acceptable level for the pre lining inspection. To do this we needed to install a temporary roof on the... View full entry
Today we set out to build the only ceiling in the house which is located in the bathroom. The rest of the house will have the exposed underside of the SIPs roofing panels although the bathroom will require additional bracing while being transported so a ceiling was necessary to provide the... View full entry
Today we removed the boxing from underneath the concrete slab. The concrete slab and walls weighting 5 tonnes made the 450mm crawl space seem less than comfortable. View full entry
The joinery arrived on site and some of the students began painting the jamb liners to prepare the units for installation into our pre fabricated walls. Once the painting was complete we we able to drill pilot holes for fixing and place the units into the walls. Now with the windows in we can... View full entry
After the concrete had set we began removing the boxing from the sides of the concrete slab in order to let it cure and so we could continue wetting the slab during this process. We also began raising the walls on the bathroom pod so that we could start cladding the exterior in preparation for the... View full entry
A question was asked about the pre cast concrete we have been working on as to what exactly was the pre cast concrete for.To clarify it is the floor of the bathroom and laundry.These are some drawings that illustrate the area that is the concrete slab we are pouring off site and how it will be... View full entry
The team continued work on the wall panels by fixing support bars for the windows in the openings as well as started to clad the external walls on the north and south façades.This cladding process involved painting the wall panels, laying and fixing the 'z' and head flashings we had made for the... View full entry
Over the last few days we have been working on the steel reinforcing in the pre cast concrete slab. This was a difficult process to get right and took some time to complete the many links and ties to construct the cages of steel.After we had completed this the engineer came to site to check that... View full entry
While some students carried on with the exterior cladding, others began building the formwork of a pre cast concrete slab. This slab will form the floor of our bathroom and laundry which will be built as a 3d module off site. This module will then be taken to site and connected with the main slab... View full entry
Friday August 1st, 2014Hoorah!Building consent was approved! We have to wait a while until we start building, but the hard yards are finally over! Now we look forward to steel cap boots, safety glasses, ear muffs with a kitted out tool belt and hammer in hand. No more long hours of what it feels... View full entry
Wednesday 4th June, 2014From Resource Consent to Building Consent, it's now down to the nitty gritty for our kaumatua house, the aim being to make it a buildable and plausible design. Our four teams continue to work on the four core areas, thus making our own groups: the floor team, the roof... View full entry
Studio 19 is a collaboration between UNITEC and Strachan Group Architects (SGA). Third year architecture students are given the opportunity to work along side SGA to design, document and build a project. The Brief from Ngāti Whātua O Ōrākei was to design of a master plan of eight houses for elderly tribe members. One of these houses is to be documented and built by the students.
